NASHVILLE. Ryder System, Inc. is launching a new online natural gas vehicle (NGV) maintenance training program for its entire North American maintenance network, encompassing over 6,000 maintenance and service employees staffing its 800 repair shops.
“Even if they are not directly handling NGVs, we want them to understand what’s involved with them,” noted Art Trahan, the company’s senior manager of technical support, here during a presentation at the 2015 Technology & Maintenance (TMC) annual meeting. “We need to have natural gas awareness for everyone.
Ryder said it will provide the company’s technician workforce with knowledge of all NGV platforms and configurations, supplementing existing training programs.
Trahan (at right) noted that Ryder currently has 609 NGVs in service for customers with 376 on order. Right now, 14 of Ryder’s shops are able to work on NGVs, with 14 more in the process of being upgraded and 25 more tagged for potential upgrades over the next two years.
“As NGV solutions continue to gain acceptance across North America, now is an appropriate time to ensure our technician workforce at every facility is aware of the basic requirements for servicing the new technology,” noted Melvin Kirk, the company’s VP of maintenance & quality operations, in a statement.
“More and more of our customers are exploring this advanced fuel solution [so we are] making a proactive investment to ensure our maintenance employees are knowledgeable and skilled in the safe operation and maintenance of natural gas vehicles,” he said.
Currently, 260 of Ryder’s technicians are training to service NGVs, with the company maintaining both compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) vehicles for customer fleets in California, New York, Michigan, Texas, Arizona, Utah, Georgia and Louisiana.
